twelvegates
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- Nevada
My elderly brother and his adult stepchildren signed an MOU regarding assets that were jointly held by him and his spouse before her death. (The children had taken their mother, while she had advanced dementia, to an attorney to change the titling of certain assets. Contact with several attorneys indicated it would be very difficult to prove that their mother was unduly influenced as it is tough to prove mental status on a particular day, and my brother didn't find out about what had happened for a couple of years.) So he agreed to sign an MOU that returned control of all previous marital assets to him but placed restrictions of what he could do with the money while he is alive.
The MOU stipulates that he cannot gift any of these assets to others, but places no restriction on how he uses the money for himself. The MOU contains no language that states he must explain how he uses the money. The stepchildren receive copies of the account statements, so they can follow what goes in and out of his bank accounts.
Recently, he received another letter from the stepchildren's attorney, asking for an explanation of some large withdrawals. He has not gifted any of the withdrawals and does not feel that he owes anyone an explanation of what he did with the money. He has already responded, through an attorney, to previous requests for explanation of withdrawals. Each time, the answer prepared by the attorney indicated only that all actions were in accordance with the language of the MOU. He is tired of paying an attorney to provide this answer for him.
Is it best that he continue to use an attorney to explain that he continues to abide by the agreement? He feels as though he is being harassed by continually accounting for withdrawals. Would it be unwise for him to respond to the questions on his own by stating that he continues to follow the MOU? Can he say that this will be his last communication on the matter and any future request for information needs to be in a hearing before a judge? Or should he just stop responding, since the MOU does not require him to explain his withdrawals?
The MOU also contains language that if either party takes any MOU issue to court and loses, the loser pays all of the associated costs. But it doesn't say anything about paying attorney costs for continually asking these questions or the costs of paying for a deposition, should he receive a subpoena to do so.
The MOU stipulates that he cannot gift any of these assets to others, but places no restriction on how he uses the money for himself. The MOU contains no language that states he must explain how he uses the money. The stepchildren receive copies of the account statements, so they can follow what goes in and out of his bank accounts.
Recently, he received another letter from the stepchildren's attorney, asking for an explanation of some large withdrawals. He has not gifted any of the withdrawals and does not feel that he owes anyone an explanation of what he did with the money. He has already responded, through an attorney, to previous requests for explanation of withdrawals. Each time, the answer prepared by the attorney indicated only that all actions were in accordance with the language of the MOU. He is tired of paying an attorney to provide this answer for him.
Is it best that he continue to use an attorney to explain that he continues to abide by the agreement? He feels as though he is being harassed by continually accounting for withdrawals. Would it be unwise for him to respond to the questions on his own by stating that he continues to follow the MOU? Can he say that this will be his last communication on the matter and any future request for information needs to be in a hearing before a judge? Or should he just stop responding, since the MOU does not require him to explain his withdrawals?
The MOU also contains language that if either party takes any MOU issue to court and loses, the loser pays all of the associated costs. But it doesn't say anything about paying attorney costs for continually asking these questions or the costs of paying for a deposition, should he receive a subpoena to do so.
